


Twelve Hours

by BrokenBookAddict



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Antimatter wave, Death, Destruction of Earth-2, Earth-2, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Love, One Shot, Pre-Crisis, Romance, Secret Relationship, Sex, Smut, SnowHarry, Snowells, Team as Family, season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:08:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22589926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenBookAddict/pseuds/BrokenBookAddict
Summary: The day had started like any other, then Barry walked into the cortex and her world imploded leaving her barely standing amongst the rubble that had been her life.
Relationships: Caitlin Snow/Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells
Comments: 20
Kudos: 105





	1. Falling Apart

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the flash

It's been twelve hours and for every second of every minute of every one of those twelve hours, it feels like a lifetime has slowly dragged by. 

A never ending nightmare she's trapped inside, with no hope of breaking free. This is her new prison, mentally and physically with thoughts and emotions that are suffocating in their intensity. Grief and pain are her new best friends. 

It doesn't make sense, none of it makes sense despite how much time has passed since the news had been broken. She's still finding it problematic to try to understand the situation and the circumstances that surrounds all that has happened today. 

Now twelve hours on, Caitlin finds herself standing outside in one of the many hallways inside Star Labs staring at a wooden door. With a ragged breath that escapes her almost as if the air is being ripped from her very lungs, she pushes aside the door to step inside the room. It's exactly the same as she remembers from the last time she was here, everything in it's place and how it should be since this room had last been occupied by it's owner. Looking around she takes in the furniture and the personal belongings left behind waiting for when he comes back for his next visit, except he.... almost immediately that thought is shoved violently away, not allowing herself to finish what she had been thinking. 

Beside the door rests a side table with a lamp which she flicks on letting a soft wave of light cast low across the room. Resting next to it are two bottles, Jameson and Johnny Walker blue with two crystal glasses accompanying them. Her fingers close around the Jameson, pouring a generous amount into a glass, before bringing it to her lips. The burn in her throat as she swallows is a welcome feeling because it draws away her attention from the other things she's feeling. It serves only as a temporary distraction, however. She refills the glass once more. Seconfs later after finishing her drink she sets the lipstick stained glass back down with a dull thud, turning away to move across the room. Her feet take her to the bed where she stands staring down at the covers, almost on auto pilot she kicks away her shoes before curling up on top of the covers. Her fingers curl into the pillows, her face presses into the material as she inhales deeply. It's been so very long since he last stayed here but she swears she can smell his scent clinging to fabric. It's with sadness that she realises she's not entirely sure if it's not just all in her head, the memory of it. 

It's been twelve hours and she still can't believe this is happening, that this is her reality now . 

Tears fill her eyes with little effort but it takes a mountain of it to hold them at bay but she's just so goddamn tired, both emotionally and physically that she fails. 

Twelve hours has dragged by almost at a snail's pace since that moment in the cortex this morning. Mere minutes of conversation which has imploded her world to leave her barely standing amongst the rubble. It's still beyond her comprehension how this can even be happening, at how quickly everything has fallen apart. 

Today is Tuesday which means that it has been two days since she last saw him and three before she would have again.... but now she won't. She won't ever get to see him again because he's gone. _Harry's gone_ and her heart feels like a hollow shell of what it once was. It's no longer filled with the love and happiness that had been there when she'd woken up this morning drowsy and thinking just three more days, instead it's filled with grief, pain and a deep feeling of loss. 

Two days ago... that's all it had been. Two days ago she had last set her eyes on him and now she'll never get the chance to again. The tears she has fought hard to keep at bay slide down her cheeks into the pillow, staining the material with her heartache. The memory of him is still so fresh and raw in her mind, their last encounter an almost brutal reminder of the loss she's suffered...

_Their plans had been ruined by the weather but from her current position twisted naked in his bed sheets, she can't find it within herself to care._

_The bedroom is quiet, the sound of the rain hammering against the window panes fill the room. From her position curled against his side with her head pillowed upon his chest, her eyes track and follow countless raindrops as they randomly draw patterns down the glass. The feel of his fingers tracing down her spine has her arching back into his touch, a soft smile hidden against his neck. Shifting her head back from his chest to the pillow, she looks at him when he sighs._

_He turns onto his side so they're face to face, pulling her against him so she can feel him hard against her thigh. She raises an eyebrow at him in teasing. "My my, already?" She smirks playfully, lifting a hand to run her fingers through his hair, soothing through the messy curls._

_"It's your fault."_

_"My fault..." she repeats innocently while not so innocently slipping her leg over his hip. Her eyes close at the feel of him nudging against her core and she fuels the fire by rocking into him, smiling when he groans. "Maybe I should do something about it then."_

_"I think so."_

_The words have barely left his lips before she's covering them with her own. She kisses him slow, her tongue teasing as her hand trails down his chest. With a quickness that's worthy of their friend the Flash, she has him on his back. She breaks the kiss to rise up above him, reaching down to take him in hand to direct him into place. A choked groan escapes him when she sinks down onto his cock. Taking him fully in she surrounds his length, hot, tight and wet._

_It's fucking glorious for them both._

_"Fuck," he mutters moving his hands to her hips to steady and assist her._

_Caitlin laughs under her breath, watching him for a reaction when she squeezes around him._

_"Fuck me," he groans almost helplessly beneath her. His hips flex up into her almost of their own accord. "Caitlin..."_

_Leaning forward, she braces one hand on the pillow beside his head while the other rests on his chest. Slowly she starts to move, doing exactly as he muttered. Fucking him slow and deep, her hips rolling into his steadying._

_"Caitlin..." Now there's a sound she's grown fond of, her name falling from his lips almost in a whine, something he'll always deny uttering. "You're killing me."_

_He sits up and she goes with him easily, so they're resting chest to chest, face to face. She pants against his cheek as she grinds herself down hard onto him. Her fingers curl into his hair, cradling his head as she kisses him. "You love it," she whispers against his mouth, nails of one hand digging into his shoulder as he hits that sweet spot over and over inside of her._

_"I love you," he corrects quietly, almost absently around a moan of pleasure as she tightens around him on the downward motion. "Fuck."_

_She falters in her movements resting with him buried deep inside of her, breathing hard, her eyes impossibly wide. "What?"_

_"What?" His blue eyes now the colour of a midnight sky, pupils blown with lust stare back at her in clouded confusion. "What's wrong?"_

_"You-- you just said you love me."_

_"Oh," he says quietly, looking her in the eye. "Well, I do." He shrugs, his arms tightening around her. "I love you," he tells her again, so simple and to the point like it really isn't that big a deal at all._

_Except it is, it's a pretty big fucking deal, at least where she's concerned._

_Caitlin bites her lip, she can feel the prick of tears in the back of her eyes. "You've never said it before."_

_His hands move to cup her face. "I haven't but that doesn't mean it hasn't been true for months."_

_She stares at him, her heart which had already been beating wildly due to their activities, almost doubles down in it's efforts. "I love you too."_

_"I know."_

_Caitlin rolls her eyes at his playful arrogance, about to offer a retort when she feels herself being rolled over until he's suddenly above her. His hands frame her face, his eyes on her as he pulls almost all the way out only to thrust back in, hard._

_"Oh..." her nails dig into his back as he moves. "Like that, Harry, please."_

_Her left foot traces up his calf as her right hooks over his hip._

_The bed moves in time with his thrusts, hitting the wall with a dull thud everytime and she's ever so glad he doesn't have neighbours on the otherside to worry about._

_"Harry..."_

_When she finally falls over the edge into oblivion, every nerve ending screams as her orgasm rockets through her. Through heaving breaths, she coaxs him on until he follows with her name lost in the crook of her neck. She holds him to her, welcoming his weight as she soothes gentle fingers through his damp hair._

_"You make it so hard to leave."_

_A rush of warm air ghosts across her skin when he sighs against her. "You make it hard to let you go."_

_"It's only five days," she needlessly reminds him, as if he doesn't already know._

_"Five days--" Harry starts to agree when her phone cuts them off._

_She blindly reaches over to swipe away the alarm she'd set. "I have to go," she tells him with a frown, not at all happy that the last few hours of their sunday together is ending to soon. "It's Cecile's birthday and we're having dinner party at Joe's." She feels torn to be losing these few hours with him and guilty for not wanting to spend the time celebrating her friend's birthday._

_He rolls off of her allowing her the opportunity to get up from bed._

_Picking up her clothes from the floor, she slips them back on. Grabbing her weekend bag, she shoves a few other bits lying around inside before zipping it shut. Slipping on her shoes she moves around to Harry's side of the bed, where he's now sat on the edge still naked. She steps between his bare legs to bend down, her lips find his effortlessly. When she pulls backs she smiles softly at him._

_"I'll see you Friday night."_

_Harry nods, his hands tightening at her waist as he presses his face against her stomach._

_"I have to go."_

_He sighs over dramatically. "I know._

_"Five days," she reminds him as she steps out of his embrace, picking up her bag and the extrapolator Cisco had given each of them. A breach opens behind her and she takes a step back towards it. "I love you," she says freely, feeling a little giddy at being able to finally say the words she's been feeling and holding close for months._

_Harry grins back at her. "I love you too, see you Friday."_

_And with one last glance at him, sitting naked on the bed where they'd just made love among tangled sheets, she wishes it were Friday already as she steps back into the breach that will take her back to Earth one._

A sob rips itself from her throat, tears coarse heavily down her cheeks. 

He's gone. _Harry's gone and Jesse's gone._ Her heart feels like it's been shredded into tiny pieces. It's hurts so goddamn much. A small part of her feels like she should have a handle on this because it's not as if this hasn't happened to her before, with losing Ronnie. But this is different. While she had loved Ronnie deeply, the love she shared with Harry is... _was_ different. He is, _was_ , the love of her life. She's squeezes her eyes shut tight, his voice echoing in her mind. _I love you too, see you Friday. I love you too, see you Friday._ Over and over on a constant fucking loop.

In a blink of an eye everything had crumbled around her. This morning had been like any other. She'd woken up, showered and got dressed. Drove to work, briefly stopping in at Jitters for a Latte and croissant before heading into the lab. It started as a quiet morning, nothing demanding the team's immediate attention so she'd headed for the med bay to catch up on some research she'd started to conduct the week prior. Everything had been fine and normal and then Iris had appeared in the doorway.... 

_Glancing up at the other woman and just from seeing the look on her face, Caitlin knows something's amiss._

_"What's wrong?"_

_"Barry needs everyone in the cortex."_

_She gets up and moves towards the door. "Has something happened?"_

_"I don't know, I guess we'll soon find out."_

_She follows behind Iris into the cortex. Barry stands in the center of the room, Cisco is sat at the main console, Ralph at his side with Joe standing a few feet from Barry. The expression on the speedster's face screams bad news. Not for the first time, Caitlin wonders when they'll catch a break._

_"Now that we're all here, will you tell us what's happened?" Iris asks her husband, leaning back against the console, a frown of concern clear upon her face._

_Barry looks at them, one by one, his shoulders slumped and dread settles into Caitlin's stomach. It's clearly not good news, worse than she first thought._

_"This morning I recieved a message from Oliver and Diggle..." he pauses, dropping his gaze to the floor briefly before looking back up, staring ahead almost at nothing. "A wave on antimatter has hit and destroyed Earth 2."_

_It takes what seems like a full minute for the words to sink in and when they eventually do it feels like she can't breath. Almost like he's in the distance she can hear Barry talking but his words mean nothing to her, it's all white noise._

_The air feels trapped in her lungs, burning as she tries to breath. Her heart thuds heavy in her chest and the words echo in her mind. Earth 2 is gone. He's gone, Harry's gone._

_Harry's gone. Jesse's gone._

_It repeats over and over in her head._

_Through the haze of agony clouding her she hears someone calling her name and she drags her gaze to Cisco who's staring at her and his expression says it all. Devastation._

_"No."_

_"Caitlin--" Cisco tries again as he gets up and moves around the desk to approach her, ignoring the others around them._

_She can feel all the team's eyes boring into her but it doesn't matter. Nothing matters. It doesn't matter that they don't know. They don't know that she... that they'd been..._

_Everything is crumbling around her._

_"No," she says more forcefully, taking a step back when her best friend approaches her side. "No, he can't... he's fine. He has to be fine."_

_Cisco takes another step, watching on as she starts to become almost hysterical, shaking her head as she tries to breath. "Cait--"_

_"NO!" She takes another faltering step back, a trembling hand lifting to cover her mouth as nausea rushes over her. "No. No. This isn't right, it can't.. Cisco please--" a sob catches in her throat as she looks to her best friend, begging him to help her, to tell her this isn't true, that Barry is wrong. "I don't understand. He was fine, I left him in bed on Sunday and he... I'm supposed to see him Friday, five days-- and now you're telling me he's... gone, he's gone." The dam opens and she breaks, falling into Cisco's waiting arms. "He can't be gone. Please."_

_"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He doesn't know what to say, what more he can do except hold her close and tight._

_Cold runs through her icing her veins, she can feel Frost reacting to her anguish but she doesn't allow her through because she knows utter destruction will follow. She buries her face in Cisco shoulder, her fingers twisted into the back of his tee. "Why does this keep happening to me? Why do I lose everyone I love?"_

_Cisco has no answers to her questions because nothing can make this right, however much he wishes he could. Especially for her, after everything she's been through and here they are again, experiencing it once more._

_Opening her eyes, she looks over Cisco's shoulder, Iris in tears wrapped in Barry's arms. She knows they have question but none of it matters. She looks at Barry and steps back out of her friends arms._

_"Barry?" Please just say there's a chance._

_He seems to know the question that laces his name. "Diggle and Oliver barely made it out. It's gone, Caitlin. It's all gone and I'm so sorry."_

She remembers turning away, her emotions completely shattered along with her heart. Frost had wanted to come out but somehow her control was maintained. She remembers standing still staring into nothing as Cisco softly explained the situation to the others. Almost as if underwater she listened on as Cisco told them of how she visited him on Earth two after his mind was restored not being able to just let him walk away. They spent time together and it soon became apparent after a short time that Harry was starting to regain his lost intelligence. Feelings that had long been simmering under the surface for them both had become something much more. They'd fallen in love. 

This was never how she imagined the team would be told, Cisco had been the only one to know about her relationship with Harry after accidently dropping by her apartment when Harry had secretly payed a visit. Soon after his explanation, she remembers Iris placing a gentle hand on her back, Joe's heartfelt words, Ralph's look of utter sadness. She remembers it all before she blindly walked out ignoring their calls, just needing distance and to be alone as she struggled to grasp the fact that Harry and Jesse were gone. She wandered aimlessly around and around the curved halls of the lab before taking refuge in the lounge. She'd curled up in the corner of the couch and stared out the window, tears streaming down her face as she cried for the man she loved and his daughter she adored. Finally after hours of pushing away the team's concern until they finally left her alone, she'd gotten to her feet and wandered to his rooms, needing to be close to a place that was his. 

Now twelve hours on and the pain is still raw and unbearable as it first was. 

In the quiet of Harry's room, curled up on his bed, Caitlin's heartache flows as free as her tears as she cries herself into a restless sleep. Exhaustion finally setting into her. 

But two hours later, Caitlin is stirred awake by someone touching her shoulder, an urgent voice breaking into her restless slumber. 

"Caitlin, wake up." 

"No Cisco, _please_ just leave me alone." Blinding she reaches up a hand to push him away. 

"Caitlin, come on, you need to wake up." Cisco tries again, a little louder and shaking her a little harder. "Wake up, we have him." 

None of it registers as she rolls away from him, curling herself around Harry's pillow. 

"Caitlin," Cisco says firmly, needing to break through and make her understand. "Harry's alive and he's here so you need get up, come on girl." 

Through the fog clouding her mind, she latches onto _his_ name, looking over her shoulder at her friend. "What did you say?" She asks, her voice hoarse from crying. 

"He's okay. Harry. He's-- he's in the cortex with Jesse and the team _. Now get up_." 

............ 


	2. Coming Together

Twelve hours has slowly slipped into fourteen. 

The former had been spent crying until there were no tears left to spill (or so she thought) her heart breaking, feeling as if the organ was shattering into millions of tiny pieces that gave no hope of repair, her mind consumed with memories of him.

_I love you too, see you Friday..._

The latter hours consisted of eventually falling into an exhaustive sleep, her body finally giving in for rest even if it were to be restless. Who knew spilling so many tears could sap your energy levels down so greatly. 

Now, Cisco is here, kneeling beside what use to be Harry's bed, shaking her impatiently while demanding for her to get up because Harry is here. He's alive-- but... he's gone, at least that's what Barry had said earlier, that everyone was killed when the antimatter wave had hit and destroyed Earth two. That was the message, right? That's what Oliver and Diggle had said. It's gone, all gone. Wiped out of existence. 

Except... it seems not. 

Having trouble wrapping her head around this sudden turn of events, she has to wonder if this is all some kind of sick twisted dream, her mind playing games with her to make her believe what she so desperately wants to be true. 

"Caitlin, did you hear me? Harry's here." 

She frowns up at her friend, who's staring down at her impatiently, willing her _ass_ to move. 

Her head is pounding from all the crying she's done today but she sits up, pushing away the doubt that lingers on telling her none of this is real, it can't be possible. Yet she trusts Cisco though and believes in what he's saying. He's her best friend, like the brother she never had and all the time she's known him he's never once steered her wrong in the past. 

"Harry?" 

"Is upstairs," he tells her quietly and holds out his hand to pull her up when she takes it. "Come on. Everything is alright." 

Nothing, no words fall from her lips as she allows him to escort her through the winding hallways of Star labs. It feels like forever and a day but when they eventually step out of the elevator onto the 600 level, she bites her lip and looks to the man at her side for guidance. Her body starts shaking with every step closer they take, her mind struggles to grasp this sudden turn of events but there's a feeling of rising anxiety within her, driving her forward. If this isn't all in her head then she needs to see him. 

"It's alright, come on girl. I know today has been hell but, he's here." 

"Cisco..." 

He wraps his arm around her shoulder as they near the entrance to the cortex. "He's waiting for you. Go on." 

She manages to extract herself out of the relative safety of his embrace and turns the corner into the cortex. Until the very last step her eyes remain on the floor until she crosses the threshold where all conversation aburptly ceases and she finally dares to look up. 

And there he is. 

That all to familiar feeling of not being able to breath returns full force. Tears cloud her vision and she raises a shaking hand to cover her mouth. 

Opposite her, Harry takes a step forward then falters, his heart aching at the sight of her. He takes her in, for such a beautiful woman, she looks awful, pale as a ghost with her eyes puffy and red from crying the day away. He can see her trembling from across the room. It had been torture to stay in the cortex while Cisco went to fetch her but he understood the reasoning, the team had told him it had been bad but seeing her... he takes another step in her direction, fighting the urge not to rush at her. 

"I know I said I'll see you Friday but..."

A sob escapes and then she's closing the distance between them, her body collides with his. 

His arms instantly welcome and embrace her, pulling her in tight. "I'm here, I've got you." 

His whispered words hit her ears, his breath warm against her skin. He's solid against her, warm beneath her fingertips and his scent invades her scenes. 

_Harry_. 

She presses herself against him, holding him to her tight almost afraid he's going to turn to dust within her embrace. 

"Sweetheart." 

Her eyes squeeze tightly shut at the sound of the familiar endearment. "You were gone. I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm fine and I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." 

She cries harder, soaking his sweater with her tears but he doesn't care. Today must have been awful for her and he aches to make it better however he can. 

But for Caitlin, it already is because he's here. 

Eventually, she takes a step back. Face to face with the man she thought lost, she takes him in. He looks perfectly fine all things considered which she marvels at after such a close brush with death a few hours ago, before she fell into an exhaustive sleep, he was dead. She cups his face, fingers gentle against his jaw. She leans into him, her trembling lips presses against his. The kiss is a mere brush of lips and despite how much she already has today, it makes her want to cry all over again but she doesn't, the last tears were just spent. Pulling away she drops her hands to his chest, fingers twisting into his sweater. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she drags her gaze away to find Jesse, watching them with a smile. 

Keeping a firm grasp on Harry almost dragging him along with her, she moves towards the younger woman, wrapping her free arm around her when she's close enough, squeezing her tight. 

"I'm so very glad you're okay, Jesse. I thought..." 

"I know, I'm sorry." 

Caitlin pulls back and shakes her head. A defiant look covering her face. "No. None of this is your fault. You're okay, that's all that matters." 

Jesse steps back into Caitlin for another quick hug before moving away. 

Caitlin instantly steps back into Harry's waiting embrace. She still can't quite believe he's here. She can't stop touching him. "What happened?" 

When her dad remains silent with his attention solely focused upon the woman in his arms, Jesse takes over to offer an explanation. "The antimatter wave, there wasn't really any warning. I barely managed to get to dad and thanks to Cisco's extrapolator we rather haphazardly breached to Earth 3 but when we landed, well crash landed there is more the right description, the extrapolator was damaged. We got to Jay who finally managed to get a message to you guys and here we are." 

"You were on Earth 3?" 

Harry nods, looking rather sheepish. "Yeah. I'm sorry we didn't get here or at least a message to you sooner."

"I'm sorry about Earth-2, I loved visiting and--" 

"I know, I wish there was more we could have done to prevent it but... I have with me what's important most." 

Looking up at him, she brushes gentle fingers along his jaw before turning into him to rest her head on his shoulder, burying her face in his neck. 

Everyone is silent for a few moments. Ralph finally breaks it as always doing his level best to lighten the mood. 

"So... I think I speak for everyone when I say welcome back to team flash," he tells them with an aggregated flair. He turns to Jesse offering her a bow, succeeding to lighten the dark heavy mood lingering over them. With a smirk, he extends his hand across to offer it to Jesse. "Miss quick, a pleasure as always." 

Shaking his hand, Jesse giggles at his silliness. 

"It's always a _pleasure_ to see you, Disney." Sarcasm drips heavy upon every word as Harry stares down the elongated man over Caitlin's shoulder. 

Ralph retracts his hand while taking it all in his stride, offering a salute as he leans against the center console. "I'm really glad you're both okay." 

Harry smiles slightly, giving the man a sincere nod of thanks. However much he's hid it in the past, he's always appreciated just how much the team not only cares about him but also his daughter. This team truly is a family, in every sense of the word. 

Barry approaches Harry, offering him his hand which the older man shakes. "Welcome home man." 

Harry realises at that moment that he really is home. If he's truly being honest, apart from Jesse, Earth 2 hadn't really held any importance to him in a long time, it wasn't home anymore but this earth, is. It's felt like that for a long time and even more so since is relationship with Caitlin has developed into what they have now. The long distance thing where she visited on weekends was only in place while he worked to wrap up his life there, to set up a permanent team to fully run his lab before he moved on. In light of everything, it served only as a complete waste of time. It's all gone, his lab he built from the ground up included and while it's sad, none of it matters because he has what matters most. Caitlin and Jesse. 

"Speaking of home, it's late and it's been... one hell of a day. Perhaps we should all call it a night." Iris suggests, looking directly at Caitlin who's had a day to forget. Not wanting to draw attention to that, she looks to her husband. "We need to tell my dad and Cecile too." 

Cisco drops down into a chair. "I'm gonna hang out for another hour, make sure everything's good, run some checks. Kamilla's visiting family so... you guys should head out." 

Caitlin looks to Harry. "Let's go home, please?" Exhaustion rushing through her like a rapid wave. All she wants is to take them home, knowing their safe with her in the apartment. 

Which is how twenty minutes later, Caitlin finds herself opening the door to her home with Harry and Jesse trailing behind her. As if on auto pilot she moves into the hall to switch on the lamp beside the door before moving into the open plan room. Another lamp comes to life, keys drop to the kitchen counter, shoes are kicked aside. She turns to the man she loves and his daughter she adores. 

"Jesse, the guestroom is down the hall, second door on the right. There's fresh towels in the bathroom cabinet and anything else you need. If there is anything else, just let me know." She looks between father and daughter. "Are you both hungry?"

Harry shakes his head. Jay had fed them while they were on Earth-3 and he'd eaten as much as he could stomach. 

Jesse clutches the bag with some of the meager belongings that she had left behind at the lab on her previous visits to her chest. That's it, all she has in a bag. "I think I'm going to call it a night, it's-- it's been a long day. I'm really tired." 

Her eyes soften and in that moment, Caitlin notices she looks so much younger than her years. She's been through so much, to much for someone her age. "That's fine, Jesse. You go rest. Goodnight." 

Harry steps up to his daughter, wrapping her in his arms pressing a kiss to her forehead as he hugs her tight. "Everything is gonna be fine, honey. Just get some sleep now, okay. I love you, my Jesse quick." 

"I love you too, daddy." She whispers, displaying a vulnerability she fights so hard to hide. She steps back and smiles at them both. "Goodnight." 

After she disappears down the hall, Harry turns his attention to the woman leaning against the kitchen counter. Closing the distance, he takes her hand in his. "Come on." Together, they head for her bedroom, the door closing quietly behind them. 

In the quiet stillness of her room, she steps into him, feeling his arms surround her. 

They stay like that for what feels like forever but is only minutes. Shifting her head back, she kisses him softly. "Take me to bed, Harry." 

He pulls back with a frown. "You're exhausted."

She shakes her head. "Please." 

He hasn't got the willpower to deny her anything, he never has. Between her and Jesse, he never stands a chance. 

He nods, easily giving in to what she wants. 

With gentle hands to her waist he directs her to turn around then steps up behind her. Pulling her back into him, Harry drops his head to her shoulder burying his face in the crook of her neck as he trails his lips over her skin. His teeth graze below her ear, his tongue soon follows after. His fingers curl into the material of her shirt, pulling it from her jeans and up. The backs of his fingers brush along her skin as he goes until finally it's off and flung away to the side haphazardly, not caring where it lands as long as it's far away from her body. Returning his hands to her they slide around and down to make quick work of her jeans, first the button then the zipper where with a little help from her their soon kicked aside.

Stepping slightly away from her his gaze wanders over her, down her beautiful back and down her long legs taking in the matching black lace underwear. Leaning forward his mouth meets her shoulder, a soft kiss placed there as he removes her bra effortlessly, sliding it away to join the shirt upon the floor. Dropping to his knees behind her his mouth travels lower, lips brushing along the edge of her panties teasing her. Hooking his fingers underneath the material he pulls them down her legs. When their discarded to the ever growing pile of discarded clothes, his fingertips brush her ankles before moving up over her knees until he reaches her thighs, his touch pauses there for a moment as he presses a kiss to her left ass cheek then to her hip.

Sensing where this is going she half turns in his embrace then steps back moving to lean against the dresser until she's facing him. She looks down and once more there's that look of wonder on his face as if he's seeing her for the very first time. Nothing is said between them because nothing needs to be said. Caitlin's eyes flutter closed when his right hand touches her thigh then drifts higher until he's there, touching her intimately for the first time in days. His touch is gentle yet holds a determined purpose that doesn't surprise her and she knows she's in trouble when he lifts her left leg to hook over his shoulder, a devilish smirk on his handsome face before he buries it between her legs.

Caitlin smothers down the cry that rips itself from her throat at the feel of his tongue sliding through her wet folds. She drops her hands to the back of his head, fingers curling into his unruly hair as whimpers and gasps leave her as he works her up, tongue circling her clit as his fingers and his mouth work in perfect partnership against her. It takes very little time or effort to get her there, he has her that wound up that his name's leaving her mouth in a strangled moan not very long after as her inner muscles tighten around his fingers and she comes in a rush against his mouth.

She barely manages to choke back her cry this time, even aware as she is that their not alone in her apartment with Jesse hauled up in the guest bedroom. Fingers crossed she's already asleep because she can barely contain her whine when Harry keeps going, unrelenting upon her as he carries her through this release and drives her on towards another. When she comes again, she does nothing to contain how vocal she is as she falls apart, his chuckle lost between her thighs as her legs turn to jello. 

She sags back against the dresser, watching almost in a daze as he wipes his mouth before her eyes fall shut, taking a moment to breath. With her eyes still closed she feels his mouth on her stomach then at her breasts, his tongue circling her hard nipples before moving away until his lips reach hers. She can taste herself on him, his tongue teasing hers, his teeth nip at her lower lip. When he finally pulls back, she opens her eyes to meet his. His normally bright blue eyes are dark, pupils blown filled with desire and need for her.

"You have to many clothes on." 

"Get into bed," he says softly. "I'll take care of it." 

So she does, climbing up to move to the pillows. Once settled, she watches him undress and it's in that moment of watching him do something so simple, that it hits her. For the space of fourteen hours, he was gone, he was gone and she would never have got to experience this with him again. It wells up within her the anguish she's felt throughout those fourteen hours but she keeps it at bay, barely. She smiles against it as he crawls into bed with her, pushing it away with all her might because he's here, with her. Completely real, solid and alive.

They settle together easily, Harry resting between her thighs as he stares down at her. Those eyes of his are so dark and intense that Caitlin finds she can't look away from them, she's trapped and she thinks not for the first time if they can see into her very soul. Without breaking eye contact she reaches between them, gentle fingers wrap around him to guide him into place. But as hard as she tried with all her might, the anguish of today remains because suddenly he's there, buried to the hilt inside of her and she can't stop the choked sob that racks her body. Her hands come up to cover her face, hiding the tears that fall despite her best efforts. _Fuck_ , it's all falling apart around her. 

"What's wrong?" Immediately his eyes are on her face, his fingers closing around her wrists to pull away her hands. "Sweetheart?"

Caitlin shakes her head. "I'm sorry," she whispers up at him, her tear filled eyes locked onto his which soon show rising panic when he starts to pull out of her. "No, no don't." She tells him firmly, shaking her head against the pillow, legs lifting to wrap around him to lock him in place. "Please."

"Caitlin." 

"I'm fine," she rushes to reassure him before admitting the cause of her tears. "It just hit me that for fourteen or so hours I lost you and-- and I would never have got the chance to do this with you again. To watch you get undressed for bed each night, to watch you shave each morning, not seeing how grumpy you can be before your first coffee... It-- it killed me Harry, hearing you were gone, that Jesse was gone. I don't--" 

He drops his head to kiss her, softly, almost a mere brush of lips across her own. He takes one of her hands and places it against his chest, his heart thumping wildly beneath their palms. "Do you feel that?" 

Caitlin brushes her thumb over his skin and nods. 

Keeping his eyes locked onto her, he pulls out before thrusting back in, slow and deep then does it again. "Do you feel that?" 

"Yes-- yes, I feel it. I can feel you." She tilts her head to reach his mouth. "Keep going." 

His hands once more frame her face and does as she commands. It's as if he surrounds her and it's everything and more. "I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." 

"Promise me?" She keens softly, the nails of her right hand digging into his back as he moves into her. "Oh God...." 

Harry brushes her lower lip with his thumb. "I promise, you're-- Fuck, you're stuck with me." 

"You can't leave me," she confesses, her voice trembling and she knows it's needy and desperate but she is, that's how she feels. "It killed me... Harry."

"I won't," he tells her adamantly. Hearing the emotion in her voice, near cripples him and his own eyes fill. This woman came into his life and turned it upside down, he wasn't expecting to fall in love with her, he didn't want to move on and move forward but she makes it so easy. She fills your heart and consumes your mind without you realising. He could never leave her, ever. She owns him. 

In the quiet of her bedroom, he makes love to her, slow and deep moving into her. The bed thuds against the wall with every thrust but neither can find it within themselves to care, she doesn't see much of her neighbours anyway to be even remotely embarrassed and she's not. Minutes, hours, days could have passed and neither would be aware of it, so lost in the feel of each other as they are. All that matters to them is each other.

As he shifts and drives that little bit harder into her which results in her eyes widening slightly as he hits that sweet spot over and over, he smiles down at her. "I love you." 

Every nerve ending within her screams as she grows closer but the pleasure eclipses into nothing in comparison of those words. Words she thought she'd never hear from him again. She lets them fill her heart and consume her mind as she pulls him closer, wrapping him in her arms as she nears the edge of oblivion. "I love you too, Harry." 

The end. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading
> 
> ❤


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